Leaked list shows Trump administration considering $15 billion in additional clean energy cuts

Days after the Trump administration made headlines cancel nearly $8 billion in clean energy projects In 16 blue states, the Energy Department is considering terminating 300 additional projects totaling more than $15.8 billion, according to a leaked list reviewed by The Times.

The list includes five of seven projects to develop clean hydrogen-based energy in the United States awarded under President Biden. Funding for the other two so-called “hydrogen hubs” ended last week, including the California-based Alliance for Renewable and Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, or ARCHES.

The list is not an official document but comes from credible sources within the administration.

Other potential terminations include a $500 million award to General Motors to convert an existing vehicle assembly plant in Michigan to electric vehicle production, and two large carbon capture projects in Indiana and North Dakota, which face reductions of $500 million and $350 million, respectively. (Carbon capture is the process of capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial discharges, which contribute to global warming, and storing or reusing them before they can enter the atmosphere.)

The list began circulating after the administration canceled more than 300 awards last week. These projects were all located in states that did not vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, which Democrats were quick to denounce as politically motivated.

The latest round of announced cuts appears to be less partisan. Texas would suffer the largest loss with 54 completed projects totaling nearly $2.4 billion, including $50 million for the South Texas Direct Air Capture Hub, intended to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio and Virginia would each lose more than $1 billion in awards.

But taken as a whole, no state would be more affected than California. The Golden State is facing a total of 93 cancellations — including last week’s official reductions and rumored reductions currently underway — totaling $3.5 billion, more than any other state by far.

The Trump administration, which heavily promotes fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, said the cancellations would help save Americans money. The projects completed last week did not “adequately meet the country’s energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayers’ money,” the Energy Ministry said.

Department officials said Wednesday they could not confirm the list of additional pending cuts.

“No decisions have been made other than what has been previously announced,” department spokesman Ben Dietderich said in a statement. “As (U.S. Energy) Secretary (Chris) Wright made clear last week, the Department continues to conduct an individualized and thorough review of financial grants provided by the previous administration. Rest assured that the Department is working hard to fulfill President Trump’s promise to restore affordable, reliable, and safe energy to the American people.”

California Senator Alex Padilla – who is urging Wright to restore funding for California’s hydrogen center — said in a phone call that “time will tell” whether the projects on the leaked list will ultimately be cut, but that the potential defunding of the seven U.S. hydrogen centers is consistent with the Trump administration’s agenda. Hydrogen, if generated cleanly, only produces water as a byproduct. It is a growing energy source that could replace fossil fuels in some industrial and transportation uses.

“Anything they can do to bolster fossil fuels is going to be a priority for them,” Padilla said, adding that hydrogen and other clean, renewable energy sources have been “in the administration’s crosshairs since day one.”

The cuts not only create greater uncertainty for industry and investors, but also drive up costs and move the United States away from the energy dominance championed by Trump, Padilla said.

“At a time when energy costs are rising for households across the country, there should be more supply in the network, not less,” he said. “And they’re removing projects that would bring not just clean energy, but simply more energy, to the grid.”

Experts noted that even cancellations in blue states would affect voters of various political affiliations. In California, for example, many elements of the ARCHES hydrogen hub project are in the Central Valley, which largely supported Trump in 2024.

The latest list of potential cuts spans about 190 Democratic and 136 Republican districts, according to a Times analysis. However, when adding in last week’s budget cuts, the overall result would be more blue, with funding reduced in 486 Democratic districts compared to 160 Republican districts.

“These sweeping funding cuts will have far-reaching consequences – with virtually no region spared,” read a statement from Conrad Schneider, senior director of the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force.

Schneider noted that the United States has spent recent years investing in innovative energy projects that can support economic growth, reduce household costs and meet growing energy demand. Federal grants and loans play a critical role in this work, he said.

“By abruptly canceling funding for several hundred energy projects,” he added, “the United States risks ceding its energy leadership and signals that American innovation is not a priority.”